1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to card games, and more particularly to on-line poker games.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are two general categories of card games—card games played against a dealer and card games played against other players.
On-line card games played against a dealer, such as roulette, black jack, dice, and baccarat, have been developed. In these games, players located at different remote locations play against the dealer. These types of games frequently include different methods and mechanisms to transfer data from the casino to each player through the Internet or some other communication network. In these games, remote players are able to perform all the tasks commonly performed by physically present players.
Several methods of playing online card and casino games have been developed in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,133 issued to Penzias discloses a system for playing card games remotely that includes a multimedia communication system, a card toaster, and an image recognition system at each game site. The toaster has the capability of reading, distributing, sorting, and finding cards. The image recognition system reads the cards that are manually played on the table and signals the card toaster, which distributes the same cards at other game location. However, this invention lacks any live video feed and requires the special gaming equipment, other than a computer, to be installed at all gaming locations.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,709 issued to Karmarkar, a virtual gaming method and system is disclosed that uses a multi-media video or restricted pre-recorded video from randomly selected live casino games. The system includes an accounting subsystem, a remote player station, and a communication hub connecting the multimedia video source and the player accounting subsystem to the remote player station. The simplified wagering rules enable a remote player to concurrently play dissimilar games at the same gaming system. The technical features of this invention, for example, the players station's reliance on authentication sensors and gaming jurisdiction entitles, are overly complex and differ substantially from the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,834 issued to Lindo discloses an interactive system and method for playing table-type games at a casino. Terminals at remote locations receive video display of the game, game players, game results, and game betting status signals from a distribution device, such as the Internet. Each terminal includes a means for electronically placing a bet. Each terminal is connected to a computer that is programmed with the required odds information for payoff when a player makes a winning bet. However, this patent is distinguishable from the present invention since the present invention's purpose is to enable a player to have a realistic table experience without having to be physically playing at the table.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,268 issued to Molnick discloses a method by which remote players may participate in a live casino game. Located in the casino is a table manned by a live dealer. Sitting or standing around the table are other players. Aimed at the table are cameras that display live images of the table to remote players interested in playing at the table. Prior to playing, each remote player must establish a communication link with the casino and transmits financial account information thereto. The casino utilizes this information and winnings are paid and loses are debited, instantaneously. During the course of a game, the casino transmits live images of the table to each remote player. Each remote player uses his or her computer to communicate game instructions to the dealer or to place bets.
Of all the online poker games that are currently in use, one aspect of game play involves random shuffling and card distribution. Current online poker games use random number generators (RNG) to determine random cards in play. However, the sites hosting the online poker games differ in their methods of initialization, known as seeding, how they use RNG's and the frequency with which they use RNG's. In some instances, a site will pull a random card when a card is required, in others the deck is set before the hand begins, and in other cases the deck is reshuffled at every stage of the hand. For example, when an action is chosen, what card comes next is determined based on the system time of the action. In this manner, current online poker games do not accurately simulate an actual shuffled deck of cards and therefore, cannot simulate live poker.
It is important to all on-line poker game operators, on-line poker players, and gambling game regulators, is that all aspects of the on-line poker game be conducted honesty and fairly. This, of course, requires that the game rules and the game mechanics be followed at all times. In addition, however, the on-line players must be confident that the cards shown on the remote player's display are in fact the cards they should have been dealt. When playing poker at a poker table in a casino, it is not uncommon for a default to be declared for a particular hand when the dealer accidently exposes a private card to other players at the table or deals a card out of turn or to the wrong player. For online players, these kinds of errors are more difficult to detect.